The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-01-13


cargo to float out, rise to the surface
and drift away. The first of the float
ing cargo that was picked up was from
that opening, and had drifted miles
away
'The salvage of the cargo of the Or.
egon was one of the greatest pieces of
work of the kind ever performed. not
SO much on account of the depth of the
water rs because of the locality and the
steady continuance of the work, often
under exceedingly adverse circum-
stances. Lots of divers 90 down twenty
fathoms for few minutes at a time on
some quick job, but staying down at
that depth and working is quite diff
ferent matter. Some of our divers
stayed down forty five and even sixty
minutes. but the usual time was from
thirty to forty minutes. As rule, we
did not allow them to stay down as long
as they wished to after they had become
accustomed to the work. for there was
always the danger that if a man was
too long subjected to sixty or sixty-two
pounds to the square inch, that had to
be maintained at that depth, it might
break him all up for several DAYS. How
break him upp' Well, it seemed to
paralyze them. Sometimes a man
would come up with no control at all
OF an arm or leg. 1t would hang as
it dead. In few days it would come
all right. but the sensation, while it
lasted, must have been rather dis
quieting. Then, when there was not
actual paralysis of one or more limbs
there were apt to be sharp pains and
aches. Some of the men who started
in diving there could not stand the
work. and had to give it up; but those
who stuck to it seemed to grow accus-
toned to it and did not complain
at all after little while. But they
were an exceptionally good lot of
men. and we took the best possi-
BILE care of them. When a man
would come up and his hemlet and
armor were taken of, he would be
thoroughly rubbed all over, walked up
and down the deck for little bit, get
a good drink of brandy, and then he
lay down to sleep for an hour, when he
would be quite fresh and ready to 90
down again. Two would 90 down
while one was resting.
"We had altogether fourteen divers
when we started, but half a dozen of
them could not stand the work, and
our average force of divers was eight.
They worked in two separate and en-
tirely distinct expeditions, each of
which had schooner to operate from,
and there was also a steamer, to take
care of and tend them. When the
weather was so violent that it was i'm
possible to work on the wreck, the
steamer would take the schooners into
Fire Island Inlet to wait for more pro-
pitious skies. But the distance was so
great, involving so much loss of time
in going to and fro, that we only left
our ground when the necessity was
most imperative. Often we took in
cargo when the schooners were pitch
ing and rolling with such violence in
the angry waves that they were taking
water over their rails on alternate sides
at every roll. Perhaps we even took
some desperate chances, but we had to
do SO or suffer interminable delays. AS
it was, we have had to lose as much as
three weeks at stretch waiting for
change in the weather.
another danger we had to en-
counter. that was not little one, was
that of being run down by steamers in
the fogs that were quite frequent. We
were right in their track. and had
several very narrow escapes.
'Sharksr o, yes, we saw sharks
there, but they did not make any
trouble. Of course it makes a man
feel little uncomfortable away down
in the sea, to have a great shadow
gliding over him and know that it is
made by a huge. ravenous fish, that
could bite him in two if it dared and
considered il worth while. But the
sharks are more afraid of the divers
than the divers are of the sharks. A
real diver isn't afraid of shark. Only
the divers that dive about gin mills
have the terrible shark experiences.
Aside from sharks, the water about the
Oregon wreck fairly swarmed with fish.
There were myriads of them; good big
ones and excellent eating, too, as we
found, but don't remember their
names.
.AccidentsP' No. With expert
enced skill, conscientious care, and
in conducting diving opera
tions they need not be attended with
any more danger of accident-or not
much more at least : than any heavy
work on land. Our powerful air
pumps, driven by steam. forced the air
into tanks, whence it was admitted to
the divers hose by nicely regulated
system of gauges and cocks that con-
trolled the pressure to . nicely, and
that was allsunder the care of expert
enced and very careful men, in whom
the divers below had the utmost conf
dence. 1t is great help to a diver to
have his mind clear of all anxiety about
what is going on up at the pumps. He
knows then that all he has to look out
for is to take care that his hose and
life line do not get entangled and
that he does not himself get jammed
among the cargo. Very often we had
to have one man on deck to attend to
the hose and life line OF another at
work in the hold FIVE fathoms below,
to see that the strong current did not
sweep them away to whore they would
be entangled and perhaps injured.
There were hand air pumps as well as
II 4, ctr,o - ~~n1 IL